Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-02-27

The lady Who vas ieftYv
..,n said TINS inquiringiy and doubt
.0h. no, replied my friend: > /
sasa me lady on his left she i his
Twas at the theaser. We had been
discussing 3 famous nan Of eenius
sno occupied q conspicuous seat. and
had asked aboa. his wife. When the
lady was pointed cut 20 me suddenly
lost eli interest IN the husband.
ma ha." laughed my companion.
aonr mistake vas a good enc
What mistaken
Why. your characterization Of Mrs..
- as the lady who was left. l eionh
think she would like il much.
said nothing. and glanced again az
the sweet-faced woman Who looked so
lonely in the midst Of that light-hearted
crowd. The husband was not lonely.
lie had everything be wanted except .
mirror. Not having one. he posed with
due regard for spectacular effect. and
was happy The expression on his
face seemed 20 say: = know Il IS try
ing 70 the complexion, this fierce white
light that beats upon the throne, but
I've got TO stand IL. Il Is one Of the
penalties OF greatness He never
looked az the woman with the tender.
luminous eyes by his side. He did
not see that, like some fair and fragile
flower, she seemed 70 wilt under the
fierce white light. Perhaps he did not
care.
Yes" said to myself. she is the
lady who was left.
The play went on, and whenever
there was a telling hit the spectators
looked at the strangely brilliant man
who was among them but not OF them
Watching the lights and the shadows
OF that mobile, magnetic face, they
applauded or relapsed into stoiid in
difference, running the entire gamut
Of expression. But nobody looked at
the quiet lady who shuddered under
every shock or sound. and seemed
70 shrink from every fresh impulse Of
glare.
After that night at the theater | saw
my lady who was left many times and
in many places. Il could not be said
that her husband condemned her to
seclusion. On the contrary, he took
her everywhere. II he was lavish in
the matter OF his own personal adorn-
ment, he urged his wife to deny herself
nothing. II II delighted him TO pose
as the central figure in a field Of cloth
OF gold, stiff with gorgeous embroidery.
he was determined that his wife should
not lack for Tyrian purple, so to speak,
and diamonds that would have gTaced
coronet. Why shouldn't she be a
happy woman7 Her costumes were
extravagantly compared to sympho-
MES and poems.
But she was not happy. In the midst
OF all the excitement ACCOMPANYING
the spectacular pageantFy OF her hus-
bands life she knew that she was left.
Why indulge in any nonsense about
her failure TO grow with her husband
and keep pace with him intellectually
IL would be stupidity. brutally false 10
sag such a thing She was born to be
the queen OF an ideal home and to hold
solely sovereign sway over one heart.
But her husband had divided his affec-
tons between her and the many-headed
monster thing called the public, and
their home life had been turned into a
gilded tumult.
| still see these two on public occa-
sions. A shadow is now beginning to
darken the husband's face. He feels
that life is growing stale and fiat. Just
why. he cannot tell. He knows that il
is not the fault of his loyal wife. but
there IS something wrong somewhere.
Perhaps there is just the suspicion Of
a shadow on the fair face Of the lady
who was left. 1t suggests a sorrow in
which self plays no part. The fleeting
years carry her in the direction Of q
a nobler, higher life, and she feels that
she is travelling the road alone. have
ceased TO study these two faces. The
lady who was left is getting beyond me.
| cannot say as much for her husband.
He is still in sight. and likely to remain
there.-Atlanta Constitution.